Method of manufacturing carbon black, lampblack, and hydrogen



, y H.J.'1v|Ass`oN. METHOD 0F MANUFACTURING CARBON BLACKLAMPBLACK,\AND HYDROGEN.

I APPLICATION FILEDJULY 17,1920.

51,418,385.` v N. IIatentedJur-1e-'6,'1922..r

, NITE A S HENRY JAMES MASSON, OF NEW s TENT oF.

Yoan, N. Y., AssmNoa To JULIAN n'. GERARD, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

' Application iled July 17,

To all 'whomz't may concern Be itknown that l HENRY'J. vMASSON7 a citizen of the United tates, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State vof New York, have Vinvented certain new and useful Improvements 'in a Method of IManufacturing Carbon Black, Lampblack, and Hydrogen, of which the fcllowingis aspecification.

My invention relates tonew and useful improvements in a method for manufacturing carbon'black, lampblack and hydrogen. One of the objects of my invention is to produce carbon black, lampblack and hydrogen `from natural gas or other hydrocarbon gases and also Jfrom hydrocarbon liquids and other carbon-containing substances which may he converted to gas or vapor.

- "3 l Such a method is very'wasteful as the per cent of theV A made continuous becausethe carbon grad# f Another object of my invention is to produce the substances before named, economically and in- ',large quantities without the.

use of complicated and expensive equipment.'v

The process usually employed for the commercial manufacture of carbon black or lampblack from natural as, for example, is to burn the said gas-Wlth an insulcient supply of.' air so. as to produce a sooty'orsmoky llame which is allowed. to impinge upon' a cool collecting surface or' surfaces such as a large iron plate'or the like.

yield is' onlyV about Vthree theoretical maximum yield.- 1

In order to increase the yield of carbon and at the same time collect'the hydrogen result-ing from the decomposition of the substances treated, attempts have been made to decompose the gases by subjecting them to a high temperature, as for example, by passing them through highly heated tubes. Owing, however, to the imposslbility' of securing material for the said tubes which will be highly refractory, will be capable of withstandlngthe strains due to expansion' and contraction without havmg very heavy walls, which will be agood conductor orV heat and at the same time effectively resist the decomposing action of carbon and hydrogen at very high temperatures. None of these processes have provedl commercially practical.

In addition, these processes could not be ually deposited upon the inner walls of these tubes, which made'it necessary .to burn out Specification of Letters Ilatent.

.carrying -the neparticles ofcarbon with Patented June 6,1922. 1920. serial No. 396,984..

these carbon deposits by means of air or scrape them out. Where the decomposition was effected in large towers by contact with highly heated material, thev said material which .caused the decomposition, had to be periodically reheated to a high temperature during which time the process had to be interrupted.

My new and'improved method consists in passinggas or vapor containing a hydrocarbon 1n the absence of air in the finely dlvided state through a bath made of molten metal, a molten alloy, or suitable non-metallic substances which are maintained in a liquid state at a suitable temperature. Some ofV the substances which could be used in the bath are magesium, copper, silver, nickel and various' kind of slags and the like. By this method the, carbonV containing s stance is'V instantly decomposed forming hydrogen and carbon, the carbon being formed in a state of very fine' subdivision. The hydrogen bubbles out of-the molten bath it, and the very mlnute particles of carbon are then precipitated and separated from the hydrogen by any suitable'means such as are shown, -for example, in U. S. Patent No.

1,278,137. Any suitable substance contain. lng carbon is to be considered as an uivation 12. The cylindrical pot or vessel 5 is`100 v enclosed in a refractory brick setting 13, beingr separated therefrom by the space 6.

he pot 5 is lled to a suitable height as 'shown in the drawing'with the material to this material may 105 vbe removed from the pot by means of an be melted. If necessary outlet pipe 10 having a suitable valve. The

t and the material contained therein are ept at a sulliciently high temperature, refverably above 2000 F. by. any suitable eat:l 110 lent for a hydrocarbon, and to be inc uded partially ing means. 'I prefer to usea molten copper bath, having a depth of about three feet.

A combustible'mixture of air and gas are introduced by means of the valve g through the manifold 8 to the various burners leading fromtlie manifold 8 and which are arranged around the sides .of the space or the combustion chamber 6. The burning gases enter the combustion chamber tangentially and whirl around the pot' producing uniF form heat.

The gas or vapor containing the carbon enters the pot by means of pipe l. This gas or vapor is preheated as it passes below the level of the molten material and indeed before this time, since the pipe l is heated by conduction. The vapor` and gas bubbles up from the bottom 2 of the pipe 1 through the nipples there shown.

rThe vminute bubbles come into Contact with `the molten material so that the'gas or vapor is decomposed into carbon and hydrogen. The hydrogen bubbles up from the molten material andthe hydrogen and carbon pass out through the flue 4l to any Suitable device for collecting the carbon.

The vertical branch of the Hue 4 is made so high that any molten material which may spatter upwardly falls back into the bath.

At the beginning of the operation, the region above the bath may contain air, but this is speedily `displaced by the hydrogen produced, so that the particles of carbon pass up through the precipitator through an inert atmosphere of hydrogen.

The flue 4 is made of sufficient length so that the hydrogen and carbon are cooled before being passed through the precipitator to a temperature of about 250 F. so that the carbon is not collected while it is too hot, as it is desirable that the particles of carbon should not stick together, forming lumps. Thematerial which is melted in the pot 5 to form the bath should not react with the carbon and the hydrogen to form a carbide or hydride which shall be stable at the high temperatures used, and it is preferable that it should not react with sulphur to form a permanent sulphide, as small quantities of sulphur may sometimes'be present in the hydrocarbon.

For example, magnesium forms a carbide but 'this is decomposed into carbon and magnesium at the high temperatures employed, so that the magnesium has a catalytic action, rst combining with the carbon to form a carbide and then having this `carbide decompose to free the carbon in the minute particles desired. Other metals may be employed which have a catalytic action.

y One of the important elements of-my invention is-'that the aeriform liquid to be decomposed is allowed to bubble upwardly freely, and to freely escape from the surface of the molten material. By introducing the aeriform fluid under suitable presv sure,` and by allowing'the minute particles of carbon to be forced with considerable velocity through and out of the body of molten material, particles are secured in the current of hydrogen above the molten material which are suitable for use as lampblack or` carbon black. It must beremem-f bered that lampblack or carbon black must consist of very minute particles of carbon free from all adherence to each other or else the material is useless for the purpose for which lampblack orv carbon black is to be intended.

As can be seen in the drawing, the walls enclosing the molten material are vertical for a considerable height, so that the ascending hydrogen and carbon particles are cooled without substantial contact with these walls. v ik lf-desired, the walls of the vessel 5 above the level of the molten material and in particular, the walls of the vertical branch of the flue 4 could be made to diverge from, each other, so as to facilitate the cooling oaf the hydrogenand carbon particles, without allowing the carbon particles to contact with surfaces to which they might cling and form an undesirable deposit.

If desired, the vertical branch ofthe flue- 4 could be artificially cooled by any suitable means which need no description as Such means are Wellknown and form no part of my invention in and of themselves.

To secure lampblack, 'it is desirable to use 100 a temperature below 20000o F., atempera` ture of about 1500o F., being suitable. 0f course, a metal having a lower melting point than copper would then be used. It is desirable that the carbon formed by the deposition should be removed from the bath as quickly as possible to secure the'softest and finest gradeof. lampblack and carbon black.

O-f course, the gas or vapor which passes through it should be forced in at a suitable' 110- pressure .which will depend upon the heightof the molten bath and the material used 1 therein. The metal may be agitated in the bath by any suitable means while the operation is going on. 115 The hydrogen may be collected and utilized in various ways. .For example, it may ,be used to heat the pot so as to maintain the bath liquid. .y

I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, but it is clear thatnumerf ous changes and omissions could be .made in details without deparing from its spirit.

l. A: method of making lampblack, carbon black and the like which consists in causing a carbon containing substance in. the form Vof minute separate bodies to con tact with material heated suiiciently high to produce minute particles of carbon, 'and 180 removing the carbon thus formed from said heated material ywith suflicient rapidity to maintain .the black color and the softness of the carbon produced.

2. A method of making lampblack, carbon black and the like which consists in causing a finely divided carbon containing substance to contact with a heated catalytic substance so as to form the carbide of the said substance, the temperature of the reaction being sufficiently high to cause the instantaneous decomposition of the carbide so formed, and carrying-away the carbon resulting from the` decomposition of the said carbide in' finely divided and separate -particles in a current of inert gas.

'3. A method of' .decomposing al carbon containing substance which consists in passing it through a body of 'molten' material, the temperature of which is at least substantially 20000 F. so as to decompose said substance into minute particles of carbon' and hydrogen and rapidly removing the 'carbon thus formed from said molten material.

4. A -method of decomposing a carbon containing substance to vproduce lampblack, carbon black and the like vWhich consists in passing it through abody of catalytic moltenmaterial, the temperature ofwhich is sulliciently high to decompose said substance into minute particles of carbon andhydroen and removing thecarbon thus formedA rom said molten material with sufiicient ra idityl to maintain the i black color and so tness of the carbon'produced.

5, A method of making lampblack, and the like, which consistsin forcing a current of aeriform hydrocarbon, under pressure through a bath of molten material, the said molten material being maintained at sufficiently high temperature to decom ose the maintained at suliciently high temperaturev I to decompose the said hydrocarbon into carbon and hydrogen, the said aeriform fluid being forced through the said molten material with suieient pressure to carry along -with lit the carbon resulting from the decomposition in the form of minute and separate particles, the said aeriform fluid being allowed to freely bubble through'- the molten material and freely escape therefrom, .so that the minuteparticles of carbon formed may be allowed'to cool without substantial .Contact with surfaces on which' they may deposit. In testimony signature.

HENRY JAMES MAssoN.

whereof I hereunto affix my 

